"Ethnic Hash"

Dig into this list of yummy words. In a personal essay from her book "Transition," Patricia J. Williams serves up an ethnic hash that slings around the idea that "you are what you eat."

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 10 Unit 1's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: What Is Cultural Identity, Ethnic Hash, Two Kinds, Honestly Frida, Legal Alien, By Any Other Name, HAPA, Where Worlds Collide, My Mother Pieced Quilts, Everyday Use, Two Ways to Belong in America, An Indian Father's Plea
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. quandary
    state of uncertainty in a choice between unfavorable options
    Ethnic recipes throw me into the same sort of quandary as that proposed "interracial" box on the census form: the concept seems so historically vague, so cheerfully open-ended, as to be virtually meaningless.
  2. kosher
    conforming to the dietary laws of Judaism
    Let's face it: however much my categories get jumbled when I hang out at my favorite kosher sushi spot, it's the little black core of me that moves through the brave new world of Manhattan as I hail a cab, rent an apartment, and apply for a job.
  3. specialty
    an asset of special worth or utility
    His specialties are pork chops and pies; he makes the good-luck black-eyed peas on New Year's.
  4. cuisine
    the manner of preparing food or the food so prepared
    My mother's family is also black, but relentlessly steeped in the New England tradition of hard-winter cuisine.
  5. staple
    a necessary commodity for which demand is constant
    These were the staples of Saturday night supper.
  6. primeval
    having existed from the beginning
    But the only times we ate it--well, those were secret moments, private moments, guilty, even shameful moments, never unburdened by the thought of what might happen if our white neighbors saw us enjoying the primeval fruit.
  7. implement
    a piece of equipment or a tool used for a specific purpose
    She would take that odd, thin-necked implement known as a melon-baller and gouge out innocent pink circlets and serve them to us, like little mounds of faux sorbet, in fluted crystal goblets.
  8. culinary
    of or relating to or used in cooking
    Some have said that too much salt cod too early in life hobbles the culinary senses forever.
  9. palate
    the surface of the mouth separating oral and nasal cavities
    I entertain global gastronomic aspirations, and my palate knows no bounds.
  10. garnish
    decorate, as with parsley or other ornamental foods
    Throw in as many exotic-sounding spices and mysterious roots as you can lay your hands on--go on, use your imagination!--and garnish with those fashionable little wedges of lime that make everything look vaguely Thai.
Created on Mon Oct 06 17:12:50 EDT 2014 (updated Wed Oct 08 18:17:21 EDT 2014)

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